Commentary for Avodah Zarah 49:14
ר' שמואל בר נחמני אמר זה ספר שופטים ואמאי קרו ליה ספר הישר דכתיב (שופטים יז, ו) בימים ההם אין מלך בישראל איש הישר בעיניו יעשה והיכא רמיזא (שופטים ג, ב) למען דעת דורות בני ישראל ללמדם מלחמה ואיזו היא מלחמה שצריכה לימוד הוי אומר זו קשת
R. Shmuel b. Nahmani said: It is the Book of Judges. And why do they call it Sefer Hayashar, because it contains the verse, “In those days there was no King in Israel; every man did that which was right [“yashar”] in his own eyes. And where is this hinted at? “That the generations of the Children of Israel might know, to teach them war” (Judges 3:2). What kind of warfare requires teaching? Surely, archery.
Daf Shevui to Avodah Zarah
R. Shmuel b. Nahmani uses a similar technique to determine that Sefer Hayashar is the book of Judges.
But there is one problem with this verse—we need the verse to refer to Judah because Judah is the tribe mentioned in the quote from II Samuel about the bow. Judges 3:2 does not seem to refer to Judah. They solve this by saying that the beginning of Judges refers to Judah. Rashi explains that this implies that all wars mentioned in the book of Judges are with the tribe of Judah, unless otherwise specified.
But there is one problem with this verse—we need the verse to refer to Judah because Judah is the tribe mentioned in the quote from II Samuel about the bow. Judges 3:2 does not seem to refer to Judah. They solve this by saying that the beginning of Judges refers to Judah. Rashi explains that this implies that all wars mentioned in the book of Judges are with the tribe of Judah, unless otherwise specified.
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